Couch bed



April 17, 1934. A, JOHNSON COUCH BED Fi'led Aug. 28, 1951 ZSheets-Sheet 2 1722;???ZZ07" 015:1 efokrza'oiz/ Patented Apr. 17, 1934 UNITED STATES 1,955,634 ooUon BED Gustave A. Johnson, Medford, Mass., assignor to New England Bedding Company, Medford, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 26, 1931, Serial No. 559,362

3 Claims. (01. -21) This invention pertains to couch beds of extensible type, for example day beds which usually comprise a main normally stationary frame carrying a spring and mattresabeneath which 5 a sliding carriage is normally arranged, said carriage also supporting a spring and mattress and being arranged to be pulled out from beneath the spring of the main frame to increase the width of the bed. Since the spring and mattress on this extension carriage normally lie in a lower plane than those of the main frame, it is necessary to raise the spring and mattress of the extension carriage after the latter is pulled out, so as to bring them up to the level of the spring and mattress on the main frame.

It is customary to provide beds and similar structures with head and foot members rising above the level of the mattress, the head member at least functioning to retain the pillow in place and while the main frame of an extensible couch or bed is usually furnished with a head and foot member, the extension carriage, which must at times be nested within the main frame, is not ordinarily provided with either a head or foot member although the lack of the head member permits the pillow to slip and fall from the end of the extension to the great annoyance of the user, while the absence of the customary head and foot members often makes the user feel a sense of dissatisfaction and that he is occupying a makeshift bed, although in reality the bed may be as comfortable and restful as a bed of usual stationary construction.

In accordance with the present invention I provide an extensible couch bed of a compact and desirable type comprising simple and reliable means for guiding the extension carriage in its movement into andout of the main frame and for raising and lowering the mattress supporting elements of the carriage, and I further provide the extension carriage with a head member (and a foot member 'if desired) which is normally folded down into substantially horizontal position to permit the carriage to be nested within the main frame but which is automatically moved into its upright or operative position as the mattress supporting members of the carriage are raised.

In the accompanying'drawings in which one' desirable embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the folding couch bed Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the bed (the mattress being omitted) showing the mattress supporting frame of the carriage in depressed position, and the carriage nested within the main frame; I

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section to larger scale on line 3--3 of Fig. 2, and in broken lines showing the position of the carriage when extended;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the bed with carriage extended and with the mattress supporting portion of the carriage in elevated position; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical section substantially on the line 55 of Fig. 1 showing the rear side of the carriage.

Referring to the drawings, the main frame of the bed comprises the head member 1 and the foot member 2, said members being united rigidly by a box-like sub-frame comprising the transverse top rails 4, the transverse bottom rails 5, the longitudinal top rails 6 and the longitudinal bottom rails 6 This sub-frame carries the mattress supporting spring structure 7 upon which the mattress, not shown, is placed.

The extension carriage comprises the transverse bottom members 8 (Fig. 5) from which rise the four corner members 9, the members 8 being rigidly connected at their front and rear ends by longitudinal bottom rails 10. The front rail 10 is provided with rollers 11 (Fig. 3) adapted to move along the floor as the carriage is extended, while the members 8 are provided at their rear ends. with rollers 12 adapted to roll upon the guide rails 5 of the main frame.

The extensible carriage also comprises a vertically movable mattress supporting frame comprising the substantially parallel longitudinal rails 13, 13 upon which the. spring structure is mounted. The front rail 13 has pivoted thereto a pair of supporting links 15, 15 respectively, while the rear rail 13 of the mattress supporting structure is provided with a pair of supporting links 16, 16 respectively. At their lower ends links 15, 15 are furnished with pins 17 which engage elongate slots 18 in the front rail 10 of the carriage, while the lower ends of the links 16 and 16 are likewise provided with pinsl'l egaging elongate slots 18 in the rear rail 10 of the carriage.

Rockers 19 and 19 are secured to the front and rear ends respectively of a shaft 22 which is journaled in the front and rear rails 13, 13 of the mattress supporting frame. The ends of the rocker 19 are connected by means of actuating links 20 and 21 respectively to the supporting a Lecaeaa links 15 and 15 respectively, while the ends of the rocker 19 are connected by actuating links 20 and 21 respectively to the supporting links 16 and 16 The links 20 and 21 are connected by a coil spring 23 (Fig. 5) which tends to pull the links toward each other and thus to hold the lower ends of the links 16 and 16 in the adjac'ent ends of the slots 18*. As may be noted by inspection of Figs. 4 and 5, the lower ends of the supporting links when the mattress supporting frame is fully elevated, are nearer to each other than the upper ends of the limbs so that they act to lock-the frame in elevated position until the lower ends of the limbs are positively separated. The rocker 19 is provided with an actuating handie 24 by means of which the shaft 22 may be rocked, thus simultaneously moving the rockers 19 and 19 and thereby swinging the front and rear pairs of supporting links so as to move the mattress supporting structure up and down as desired.

A head member 26 is provided for the extension carriage, such head member as shown in Fig. 3 preferably consisting of a part which is disposed above the level of the mattress supporting structure and which has downwardly projecting front and rear legs' 2'7 and 2'7 which are pivotally secured to the front and rear rails l3, 13* of the carriage. I'he lower ends of these legs 27 and 27 are connected by links 28 and 28 to the supporting links 15 and 16 respectively. Normally when the mattress suporting frame is depressed, the head member 26 is disposed in substantially horizontal position on top of the spring structure, as shown in Fig. 2 but when the handle 24 is moved to elevate the mattress supporting frame, the head member 26 is swung to upright position as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

If desired, a foot member 26* may be disposed at the opposite end of the carriage and connected as shown by suitable linkage for operation by the handle 24, so that both the head and foot members are raised and lowered simultaneously with the raising and lowering of the mattress supporting frame of the carriage.

In order that the carriage may be moved outwardly without tendency to bind against the ends of the main frame, I prefer to provide a pair of crossed links 25, (Fig. l) pivotally attached at their rear ends to the lower rail 6 for example, of the main frame andwhich have pins 29 at their forward ends engaging elongate slots 30 in the front bottom rail 10 of the carriage. With this arrangement the extension carriage is prevented from binding against the main frame as it is moved out and in.

While I have herein illustrated one desirable arrangement of parts for attaining the desired result, I wish it to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to this exact arrangement, but that equivalent constructions are to be considered as falling within the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A couch bed of the class described comprising a main frame having guide rails, an extension carriage arranged to move on said rails, said carriage comprising front and rear bottom members, a vertically movable mattress supporting frame having front and rear pairs of supporting links pivotally connected at their upper ends to the mattress supporting frame and having connections at their lower ends to the front and rear bottom members of the carriage, the latter connections comprising pins slidable from end to end of closed slots for limiting the movement or" the said links, each of said slots being located with respect to the link associated therewith to provide for movement of such link about its pivot between oppositely inclined positions in one of which the link is locked for supporting the carriage in raised position, the .pin operating in each slot being adapted to bear against a closed end thereof for supporting the carriage in its substantially locked raised position, a head member having front and rear legs pivotally secured to the mattress supporting frame, means connecting said legs to one of the front and rear supporting links respectively, an actuating handle, and means connecting the handle to the front supporting links.

2. A couch bed of the class described comprising a main frame, a carriage movable laterally into and out of the main frame, a vertically movable mattress supporting frame disposed on said carriage, front and rear supporting link members mounted to pivot on said mattress supporting frame and depending below the latter for assisting in. raising and lowering the same, a shaft exwith one of the supporting links, these supporting links being movable about their pivots between oppositely inclined positions, slidable connections between the lower ends of the supporting links and said carriage, a spring connecting two of the actuating links and tending to hold the supporting links in one of their inclined positions in which their lower ends are nearer together than their upper ends, and abutment means on the carriage for supporting these links in this position and thereby supporting the mattress frame fully elevated so that it is locked against downward movement until the handle is actuated for depressing it.

3. A couch bed of the class described comprising a normally stationary main frame, an extension carriage normally nesting within said main frame but laterally movable therefrom, said carriage having a vertically movable mattress supporting frame, foldable head and foot members having legs pivotally secured to the mattress supporting frame, said members normally lying substantially horizontally below the level of the main frame when the mattress supporting frame is in lowered position to permit the carriage to nest within the main frame, and means for simultaneously elevating said mattress supporting frame and raising the head and foot members to operative position when the carriage has been withdrawn from the main frame, said means com prising a pair of front and rear supporting links pivotally connected at one end to said supporting frame and having pin and slot connections with said carriage, means connecting said front and rear supporting links with the legs of the head and foot members, respectively, a transversely extending shaft journaled in said supporting frame, a rocker fixed to said shaft, actuating links connecting said rocker to each pair of supporting links, and a handle for rotating said shaft, both pairs of links being inclined, with their lower ends nearer together than their upper ends, when the mattress frame is in fully elevated position whereby the connecting and supporting links are held in such position to prevent accidental downward movement of the mattress frame.

GUSTAVE A. JOHNSON. 

